David Callahan is a co-founder of the think tank Demos, a public policy group based in New York City, where he is currently a Senior Fellow. He is also an author, commentator, and lecturer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the books The Cheating Culture and The Moral Center. Callahan is a graduate of Hampshire College and holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton University. He is the son of Daniel Callahan, the bioethicist and healthcare expert, and Sidney Callahan, who writes about religion and psychology.
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Callahan is best known for his 2004 book, The Cheating Culture, a nonfiction work that links the rise in unethical behavior in American society to economic and regulatory trends -- particularly growing inequality. Since its publication, The Cheating Culture has been reviewed or discussed in numerous newspapers and magazines. The Los Angeles Times called The Cheating Culture a "lucid and thoughtful book,"[1] while Esquire proclaimed it a "damning and persuasive critique of America's new economic life." In a profile in The New York Times, Chris Hedges called Callahan "a new liberal with old values."[2] Callahan has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs to discuss The Cheating Culture. He has also lectured widely on the book to business groups and university audiences, frequently as a keynote speaker. Callahan continues to blog on issues of ethics, dishonesty, and fraud at CheatingCulture.com.
In addition to The Cheating Culture, Callahan is the author of seven other books. These include Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America (2010), which argues that the rise of the knowledge economy has led to ideological shifts within the U.S. upper class, and The Moral Center (2006),[3] which examines how a market-based economy, i.e. capitalism, with its elevation of self-interest, undermines values that both liberals and conservatives care about. Callahan argues for a new moral vision that fuses mutual obligation with personal responsibility and can attract majoritarian political support. The American Prospect has called The Moral Center "fresh and provocative." Callahan is also author of the 2002 book Kindred Spirits, a history of the Harvard Business School Class of 1949.[4] In an interview about the book with The New York Times, Callahan contrasted this earlier group of business leaders, many of whom frowned on conspicuous consumption, with later generations of business leaders more motivated by greed. USA Today called the book "intriguing" and "incredibly detailed." Before writing his recent books on ethics, morality, and business, Callahan explored issues of philanthropy, including for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. In addition, Callahan has published three books on U.S. foreign policy, including Dangerous Capabilities, an authoritative biography of Paul Nitze, and Unwinnable Wars, a study of U.S. involvement in such ethnic conflicts as the wars in Bosnia, Rwanda, Lebanon, and Biafra. In addition to his books, Callahan's many articles have appeared in such publications as The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The American Prospect, and The Nation. He also a regular blogger for The Huffington Post. On April 3, 2011, Callahan published an op-ed in the New York Times entitled "Bringing Donors out of the Shadows" about politically-motivated philanthropy. The piece was critical of the practice, on "both the left and the right," of channeling funds anonymously through 501(c)3 and (4) nonprofit groups in order to advance political views. Callahan singled out the brothers David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch as an example of donors who conceal "the recipients of their largess, even as they get to write it off on their taxes."[5] According to their website, however, Koch Industries challenged many of the claims made by Callahan in a letter to the editor.[6]
Callahan co-founded Demos in 1999, where he has held several top management positions. In addition to being a Senior Fellow at Demos, Callahan currently directs its International Program and edits the Demos blog, PolicyShop.net. Headquartered in New York City, with offices in Boston and Washington, D.C., Demos publishes frequent research reports, as well as supporting 25 fellows who write books, articles, and studies. It hosts numerous public events, both in New York and in other cities around the United States. Demos staff and fellows are regular guests on television talk shows and are often quoted in the media. In 2010, Demos had a budget of $6 million.
Twilight of the Dirty Rich Washington Post, August 8, 2010.
Traitors to Their Class: The New Liberal Super Rich The New Republic, June 25, 2010.
The Moral MarketDemocracy, Summer 2009.
A Gentler Capitalism Los Angeles Times, January 2008